Updated Consensus Ranks: Starting Pitchers
We’ve finally come to the end of this long dance, and it feels good. The hope all along was not to impose our belief system on anyone with these rankings, but to show what a projections-based ranking system would look like: sober and difficult to budge. After all, true talent changes much less often than results do.
As for the major disagreements, they seemed to surround a few issues.
1) The injured player. This is such a guesstimate. How long will Cory Luebke be out, for example? Even with players like Mike Morse that have a supposed time table, there are questions about his production when he returns. A projection-based system might ding him for the missed time, but it will have difficulty reducing production based on whatever injury the player has. Even a little subjectivity makes this difficult.
2) The oft-injured player. In these rankings, Josh Johnson might play the role of Josh Hamilton: the player whose rest-of-season 5×5 production would be more useful if it didn’t include likely missed time. For the most part, health looks like an age-related skill — some players get hurt more often, and past health is definitely factored into projections. A breakout player who plays three-quarters of the time gets a ding.
3) The breakout player. There are breakouts, they do exist. There are also crazy months. There are more of the latter than the former, and so our sobriety reflects a tiny bit of cynicism regarding breakouts. We aren’t straight-jacketed by our projections, either — each analyst has his own mix of subjectivity and projections, after all, and even the choice of projections is rooted in subjectivity, and every fantasy ranking list is subjective in some fashion — but when there’s little warning for a breakout, we’re more likely to be suspicious of it than perhaps anyone.
That said, pitchers might have the easiest path towards rapid improvement or decline. Pitchers have peripherals that are harbingers of both — velocity, swinging strike rate, change in pitching mix — and when a young (or new) pitcher like Yu Darvish or Brandon Beachy shows good news in those areas, we’re just as likely as anyone to move them.
So let’s take a look at the starters.
| FanGraphs Consensus Rankings: Starting Pitchers |
||||||
| New | Last | Player Name | Eno Sarris | Mike Podhorzer | Jeff Zimmerman | Zach Sanders |
| 1 | 1 | Roy Halladay | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 |
| 2 | 3 | Clayton Kershaw | 2 | 3 | 1 | 1 |
| 3 | 2 | Cliff Lee | 3 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
| 4 | 4 | Justin Verlander | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 |
| 5 | 5 | Zack Greinke | 8 | 6 | 5 | 6 |
| 6 | 6 | Felix Hernandez | 5 | 8 | 6 | 7 |
| 7 | 9 | Cole Hamels | 6 | 7 | 7 | 8 |
| 8 | 10 | CC Sabathia | 7 | 5 | 12 | 10 |
| 9 | 8 | Jered Weaver | 9 | 9 | 13 | 5 |
| 10 | 11 | Dan Haren | 10 | 10 | 9 | 15 |
| 11 | 12 | James Shields | 11 | 11 | 11 | 13 |
| 12 | 15 | Stephen Strasburg | 15 | 13 | 14 | 11 |
| 13 | 7 | Tim Lincecum | 14 | 12 | 8 | 19 |
| 14 | 13 | David Price | 12 | 15 | 17 | 12 |
| 15 | 16 | Matt Cain | 13 | 14 | 29 | 9 |
| 16 | 17 | Yovani Gallardo | 18 | 17 | 10 | 32 |
| 17 | 27 | Yu Darvish | 22 | 20 | 15 | 21 |
| 18 | 23 | Brandon Beachy | 19 | 23 | 16 | 24 |
| 19 | 14 | Jon Lester | 20 | 16 | 19 | 27 |
| 20 | 19 | Adam Wainwright | 16 | 18 | 32 | 20 |
| 21 | 21 | Ian Kennedy | 25 | 28 | 20 | 14 |
| 22 | 26 | Matt Garza | 21 | 22 | 22 | 22 |
| 23 | 30 | C.J. Wilson | 17 | 26 | 31 | 16 |
| 24 | 18 | Mat Latos | 26 | 19 | 18 | 34 |
| 25 | 20 | Madison Bumgarner | 24 | 24 | 26 | 26 |
| 26 | 33 | Gio Gonzalez | 23 | 38 | 25 | 18 |
| 27 | 24 | Josh Johnson | 28 | 27 | 33 | 17 |
| 28 | 36 | Brandon Morrow | 31 | 29 | 21 | 41 |
| 29 | 34 | Tommy Hanson | 30 | 36 | 28 | 39 |
| 30 | 37 | Anibal Sanchez | 29 | 35 | 30 | 43 |
| 31 | 32 | Shaun Marcum | 32 | 32 | 44 | 30 |
| 32 | 25 | Daniel Hudson | 27 | 44 | 24 | 47 |
| 33 | 38 | Jordan Zimmerman | 35 | 37 | 39 | 33 |
| 34 | 42 | Colby Lewis | 37 | 30 | 27 | 52 |
| 35 | 40 | Jaime Garcia | 34 | 31 | 51 | 35 |
| 36 | 39 | Ricky Romero | 33 | 52 | 43 | 28 |
| 37 | 31 | Josh Beckett | 48 | 25 | 36 | 48 |
| 38 | 49 | Derek Holland | 39 | 41 | 49 | 36 |
| 39 | 35 | Max Scherzer | 51 | 33 | 23 | 62 |
| 40 | 46 | Wandy Rodriguez | 38 | 53 | 41 | 38 |
| 41 | NA | Matt Moore | 36 | 21 | 59 | 61 |
| 42 | 55 | Bud Norris | 45 | 59 | 38 | 49 |
| 43 | 51 | Johnny Cueto | 44 | 51 | 64 | 37 |
| 44 | 44 | Tim Hudson | 41 | 49 | 78 | 31 |
| 45 | 52 | Gavin Floyd | 53 | 55 | 40 | 54 |
| 46 | 47 | Jeremy Hellickson | 43 | 47 | 75 | 42 |
| 47 | 61 | Ryan Dempster | 42 | 45 | 37 | 84 |
| 48 | 48 | Doug Fister | 61 | 67 | 56 | 25 |
| 49 | 53 | Brandon McCarthy | 40 | 70 | 60 | 40 |
| 50 | NA | Jeff Samardzija | 57 | 39 | 70 | 55 |
| 51 | NA | Chris Sale | 50 | 40 | 71 | 60 |
| 52 | 50 | Ervin Santana | 52 | 50 | 46 | 73 |
| 53 | 64 | Vance Worley | 47 | 83 | 65 | 29 |
| 54 | 71 | Edwin Jackson | 60 | 71 | 50 | 44 |
| 55 | 60 | Mike Minor | 56 | 54 | 58 | 57 |
| 56 | 77 | Jake Peavy | 77 | 42 | 61 | 46 |
| 57 | 43 | Ted Lilly | 55 | 34 | 47 | 91 |
| 58 | 58 | Ricky Nolasco | 54 | 61 | 35 | 78 |
| 59 | 66 | Chad Billingsley | 49 | 74 | 48 | 58 |
| 60 | 67 | Jonathon Niese | 59 | 58 | 52 | 71 |
| 61 | 57 | John Danks | 70 | 57 | 45 | 76 |
| 62 | 54 | Hiroki Kuroda | 71 | 48 | 57 | 75 |
| 63 | 87 | A.J. Burnett | 67 | 64 | 68 | 59 |
| 64 | NA | Lance Lynn | 62 | 75 | 73 | 80 |
| 65 | 62 | Johan Santana | 46 | 46 | 151 | 50 |
| 66 | 70 | Chris Capuano | 64 | 68 | 55 | 107 |
| 67 | 76 | Homer Bailey | 76 | 62 | 69 | 92 |
| 68 | 85 | Erik Bedard | 73 | 76 | 81 | 70 |
| 69 | 133 | Jason Hammel | 91 | 43 | 101 | 69 |
| 70 | 78 | Ryan Vogelsong | 65 | 106 | 86 | 53 |
| 71 | 63 | Tim Stauffer | 72 | 82 | 82 | 74 |
| 72 | 41 | Ubaldo Jimenez | 63 | 134 | 34 | 83 |
| 73 | 72 | Mark Buehrle | 88 | 73 | 99 | 56 |
| 74 | NA | Neftali Feliz | 83 | 79 | 72 | 85 |
| 75 | NA | Daniel Bard | 86 | 56 | 85 | 94 |
| 76 | 56 | Justin Masterson | 75 | 132 | 54 | 64 |
| 77 | NA | Drew Smyly | 69 | 85 | 96 | 77 |
| 78 | 65 | R.A. Dickey | 58 | 60 | 83 | 129 |
| 79 | 83 | Felipe Paulino | 93 | 69 | 66 | 108 |
| 80 | 80 | Philip Humber | 99 | 80 | 92 | 66 |
| 81 | 88 | Matt Harrison | 92 | 88 | 109 | 51 |
| 82 | NA | Trevor Bauer | 116 | 122 | 63 | 45 |
| 83 | 74 | Juan Nicasio | 89 | 72 | 98 | 93 |
| 84 | 99 | James McDonald | 101 | 96 | 77 | 87 |
| 85 | 96 | Edinson Volquez | 78 | 77 | 117 | 95 |
| 86 | 102 | Jeff Niemann | 79 | 66 | 93 | 131 |
| 87 | NA | Anthony Bass | 74 | 78 | 159 | 65 |
| 88 | 75 | Trevor Cahill | 98 | 87 | 88 | 105 |
| 89 | 68 | Mike Leake | 97 | 105 | 74 | 104 |
| 90 | 120 | Dillon Gee | 105 | 84 | 125 | 68 |
| 91 | 79 | Tommy Milone | 90 | 95 | 76 | 123 |
| 92 | 101 | Carlos Zambrano | 80 | 92 | 107 | 110 |
| 93 | 113 | Bartolo Colon | 112 | 91 | 122 | 67 |
| 94 | 111 | Kyle Lohse | 81 | 103 | 136 | 72 |
| 95 | 132 | Wei-Yin Chen | 84 | 115 | 105 | 88 |
| 96 | 94 | Ivan Nova | 103 | 113 | 115 | 63 |
| 97 | 155 | Tyler Skaggs | 144 | 117 | 62 | 79 |
| 98 | 122 | Joe Blanton | 107 | 101 | 113 | 82 |
| 99 | 89 | Jason Vargas | 95 | 136 | 94 | 81 |
| 100 | 84 | Randy Wolf | 94 | 102 | 91 | 126 |
| 101 | 28 | Cory Luebke | 176 | 174 | 42 | 23 |
| 102 | 97 | Aaron Harang | 121 | 108 | 90 | 98 |
| 103 | 138 | Jake Arrieta | 85 | 89 | 147 | 99 |
| 104 | 81 | Henderson Alvarez | 96 | 114 | 110 | 106 |
| 105 | 91 | Phil Hughes | 100 | 86 | 87 | 153 |
| 106 | 105 | Roy Oswalt | 123 | 112 | 79 | 127 |
| 107 | 90 | Luke Hochevar | 118 | 142 | 97 | 86 |
| 108 | 112 | Danny Duffy | 148 | 81 | 114 | 100 |
| 109 | 174 | Marco Estrada | 108 | 93 | 118 | 124 |
| 110 | 69 | Clay Buchholz | 111 | 135 | 108 | 90 |
| 111 | 115 | Jarrod Parker | 82 | 116 | 155 | 96 |
| 112 | 150 | Brett Anderson | 87 | 94 | 133 | 143 |
| 113 | 73 | Francisco Liriano | 114 | 133 | 67 | 145 |
| 114 | 109 | Brett Myers | 68 | 65 | 158 | 173 |
| 115 | 116 | Bronson Arroyo | 125 | 104 | 121 | 115 |
| 116 | 108 | Travis Wood | 134 | 124 | 89 | 121 |
| 117 | 140 | Brad Peacock | 141 | 162 | 53 | 119 |
| 118 | 159 | Ross Detwiler | 106 | 98 | 175 | 97 |
| 119 | 93 | Josh Tomlin | 120 | 130 | 104 | 128 |
| 120 | 29 | Chris Carpenter | 66 | 63 | 177 | 178 |
| 121 | 110 | Derek Lowe | 124 | 131 | 116 | 114 |
| 122 | 158 | Jorge de la Rosa | 136 | 121 | 111 | 117 |
| 123 | 98 | Jonathan Sanchez | 122 | 150 | 84 | 133 |
| 124 | 144 | Randall Delgado | 113 | 97 | 165 | 116 |
| 125 | 92 | Carl Pavano | 119 | 129 | 100 | 147 |
| 126 | 128 | Julio Teheran | 110 | 160 | 126 | 103 |
| 127 | 125 | Clayton Richard | 127 | 109 | 142 | 122 |
| 128 | 147 | Joe Saunders | 152 | 110 | 123 | 118 |
| 129 | 127 | Paul Maholm | 138 | 125 | 130 | 111 |
| 130 | 145 | J.A. Happ | 131 | 111 | 127 | 138 |
| 131 | 152 | Jake Westbrook | 115 | 137 | 156 | 101 |
| 132 | NA | Hector Noesi | 117 | 144 | 137 | 112 |
| 133 | 157 | Jerome Williams | 104 | 90 | 152 | 165 |
| 134 | 123 | Chris Volstad | 151 | 107 | 120 | 134 |
| 135 | 129 | Jordan Lyles | 128 | 119 | 132 | 136 |
| 136 | 59 | Jhoulys Chacin | 109 | 161 | 164 | 89 |
| 137 | 107 | Rick Porcello | 147 | 143 | 124 | 109 |
| 138 | 126 | Randy Wells | 137 | 123 | 131 | 135 |
| 139 | 164 | Kevin Millwood | 158 | 127 | 102 | 144 |
| 140 | 124 | Hisashi Iwakuma | 126 | 99 | 135 | 172 |
| 141 | 136 | Barry Zito | 130 | 140 | 153 | 113 |
| 142 | 117 | Drew Pomeranz | 149 | 118 | 146 | 132 |
| 143 | 137 | Charlie Morton | 139 | 126 | 145 | 137 |
| 144 | 134 | Alexi Ogando | 102 | 100 | 171 | 176 |
| 145 | 141 | Blake Beavan | 140 | 156 | 154 | 102 |
| 146 | 106 | Jeremy Guthrie | 162 | 152 | 112 | 130 |
| 147 | 119 | Jeff Karstens | 135 | 147 | 119 | 157 |
| 148 | 130 | Brian Matusz | 129 | 141 | 149 | 141 |
| 149 | 118 | Bruce Chen | 157 | 149 | 143 | 125 |
| 150 | 103 | Brett Cecil | 133 | 169 | 129 | 146 |
| 151 | 121 | Javier Vazquez | 150 | 179 | 80 | 169 |
| 152 | 82 | Jair Jurrjens | 132 | 163 | 134 | 154 |
| 153 | 149 | Kevin Correia | 143 | 138 | 141 | 161 |
| 154 | 156 | Alex White | 153 | 120 | 174 | 140 |
| 155 | 167 | Kyle Drabek | 145 | 128 | 172 | 142 |
| 156 | 163 | Jason Marquis | 146 | 154 | 168 | 120 |
| 157 | 146 | Dallas Braden | 142 | 148 | 140 | 158 |
| 158 | 100 | Kevin Slowey | 161 | 173 | 106 | 149 |
| 159 | 86 | Josh Collmenter | 160 | 170 | 103 | 156 |
| 160 | 169 | Livan Hernandez | 172 | 157 | 138 | 151 |
| 161 | 131 | Wade Davis | 167 | 153 | 128 | 171 |
| 162 | 151 | Jacob Turner | 155 | 164 | 163 | 139 |
| 163 | 95 | Chris Narveson | 180 | 176 | 95 | 170 |
| 164 | 165 | Dustin McGowan | 166 | 145 | 148 | 166 |
| 165 | 148 | Dustin Moseley | 154 | 139 | 160 | 174 |
| 166 | 114 | Zach Britton | 164 | 168 | 139 | 159 |
| 167 | 153 | Nick Blackburn | 156 | 151 | 161 | 162 |
| 168 | 143 | Guillermo Moscoso | 174 | 158 | 144 | 163 |
| 169 | 160 | Chris Tillman | 163 | 165 | 166 | 150 |
| 170 | 142 | Chien-Ming Wang | 169 | 155 | 167 | 155 |
| 171 | 135 | John Lannan | 168 | 171 | 162 | 148 |
| 172 | 166 | Charlie Furbush | 159 | 146 | 170 | 175 |
| 173 | 162 | Nathan Eovaldi | 165 | 166 | 169 | 152 |
| 174 | 161 | Fausto Carmona | 171 | 167 | 157 | 160 |
| 175 | 154 | Freddy Garcia | 170 | 172 | 150 | 164 |
| 176 | 168 | Tyler Chatwood | 173 | 159 | 173 | 167 |
| 177 | 104 | Tsuyoshi Wada | 179 | 178 | 179 | 168 |
| 178 | 22 | Michael Pineda | 177 | 175 | 176 | 177 |
| 179 | 45 | Scott Baker | 178 | 177 | 178 | 179 |
| 180 | 139 | Mike Pelfrey | 175 | 180 | 180 | 180 |
With a phone full of pictures of pitchers' fingers, strange beers, and his two toddler sons, Eno Sarris can be found at the ballpark or a brewery most days. Read him here, writing about the A's or Giants at The Athletic, or about beer at October. Follow him on Twitter @enosarris if you can handle the sandwiches and inanity.
Lance Lynn?
working on it! thanks.
Sorry it took so long. He’s in now.
Higher: Bumgarner (if you can trade Lester for Bumgarner, you do it instantly), Porcello, Dickey, Peavy, Parker.
Lower: Strasburg (IP coming, has trouble working deep in games), Morrow, Beckett, Moore, Bailey.
How is Garza not top 20, waino? Timmy? Lester? Same with J Zim
I’m really surprised Lincecum isn’t lower, too. There’s an obvious case for his downside/disaster season that we didn’t have to worry about two months ago. There are so many names after him that you should take in a second in a 1-for-1 – and I bet you can’t even get them.
How did Ted Lilly drop 10 spots? That’s kind of insane. He’s been awesome all year. And that WHIP!
Not quite as furious but still somewhat curious about that drop too.
Cueto has an ERA around 1
It’s a rest-of-season rankings. Though I will admit I have no idea how Cueto managed to pitch to 156 innings of .250ish BABiP last year, I don’t think he’ll do it again all year this year.
Agree about Cueto. His K numbers aren’t huge but he does lead the league in ERA going back to last season, with low BBs and a solid infield D behind him. Once the Reds offense gets rolling his Ws will be there too.
Did Jeff actually update his rankings? Some of these look severely out of place – the aforementioned Corey Luebke, Francisco Liriano, Brad Peacock, Justin Masterson, and Javier Vasquez(?!) to name a few.
… Detwiler, Naverson
His rankings on a few of the other updates weren’t updated, either. Maybe he’s making a comment on how we shouldn’t be re-evaluating players just yet…but my guess is, just didn’t do his homework.
I get your point, but I somehow think that having Johan 50 spots behind Naverson because “we are better off sticking with our pre-draft projections than reacting to small sample sizes” is taking that argument to an absurd extreme.
By the way, count me in the camp of people that think you CAN start to judge pitchers after a 5th of the season has passed. For instance, Hochevar, Liriano, Colon, and Masterson should all be judged for the first 7 weeks of the season.
The lack of updating decreases the value of this tremendously. Santana at 159?
Gio Gonzalez at 26, seriously? You’d take Latos or Wainwright over him? Please.
wait. you actually think 26 is low? I laugh.
if your comment would have been ridiculous 4-6 weeks ago, you are probably being unduly influenced by a small sample size.
Gio was ranked 33 before (too low) and just went from the AL to the NL. Latos moved to a less favorable park. Wainwright just doesn’t look like the old Wainwright (yet). You can call it small sample size, but I’ll think of it as 1.5 months of starts that confirm things that we should have known before the season started. I actually think your comments is ridiculous 4-6 weeks ago, now, and at all points in the future.
I would say it was ridiculous to have had Wainwright at 19 coming off a missed season.
Strasburg was at 15 coming off a lost season. Sure, he pitched a few games last year, but I don’t see what the difference is. Wainwrights peripherals are still good, and a 2.93 xFIP shows he’s been getting somewhat unlucky. He should be strong going forward.
Fair point on Wainwright’s peripherals and Strasburg’s injury last year. I will say that for me, Strasburg proved he was healthy last september when he was one of the best starters in the league for that month. That said, I can see how some others might NOT have felt that.
i guess i was responding more to the “Gio at 26? Pshaw!” tone of the comment than the content. it’s not out of the question that you’re correct, but unless you have different information than everyone else it’s pretty silly to take umbrage at the idea that gio might just possibly not be as good as he’s looked so far or that a post-TJ case like waino might take a couple months to return to form. admittedly, i do dislike latos. i also must admit that i found the idea that the results so far “confirm things that we should have known before the season started” is pretty funny, but maybe that’s just me. cheers!
Strasser belongs in the top 5, aside from the pitching limit, there’s nothing stopping him from being a top 3 pitcher in baseball this year. Soon enough he’ll grab the torch from the good Dr. and be numero uno.
As soon as draft day 2013 methinks
On a per inning basis he is the best in baseball already.
Sure if he only has another 120 innings left, then he should be diminished (from #1), but considering Jeff Zimmerman ranked Naverson at 94 (when he will not pitch ANY more innings), I think that there is a place from Strasburg higher on the list.
Strasburg has started 24 games in the majors. He’s been impressive in those 24 games, but it’s a little early to be proclaiming him the second coming of Roy Halladay. He easily *could* be the best pitcher in baseball, but it’s way too early in his career to be saying that now.
Among qualifying pitchers, Strasburg has been the 2nd best in xFIP (behind Greinke), 3rd best in FIP (behind Greinke and Gio), and 1st in SIERRA. (5th best in ERA, BTW)
Like I said, I think he is the best pitcher on a per inning basis. That means that until he is shut down, he is the best pitcher in the league.
You can say he only has 24 starts, but those 24 starts are better than any other pitcher’s last 24 starts in baseball (by a sizable margin).
I think that we are at the point that we should stop denying that he is pitching on another level than the rest of the league.
so you’re saying he’s clearly better than Greinke based on the fact that he hasn’t pitched as well as Grinke based on FIP or xFIP over the period of time we are considering even though Greinke has also proven that he capable of being an outstanding pitcher during other, longer sustained periods of his career and Strasburg has not?
I think you’re proving my point. 🙂
I am sorry. I never said the Strasburg was “clearly” better than Greinke. I said that I “think” he is the best pitcher inning for inning. The difference in the data is very close so it isnt like one has been much better than the other. More that the two of them have both been awesome. Also, I would note that Greinke lags behind him a little bit in SIERRA.
I have pointed to evidence to prove that he is better than anyone (except MAYBE Greinke). You have pointed to absolutely nothing to prove that Strasburg is not one of the best. Unless you count pointing out his historically good first 24 starts as evidence that he is NOT good (!!??!!?).
So unless you prove … something (… really, just prove anything), then it is probably a waste of time for you to imply that I am proving your point. You can go and prove your original point that he is not the second coming of Halladay but as of now, you have not done that.
The point I am proving is that as of right now, the next 100 innings of Strasburg are likely to be better then the next 100 innings of any other pitcher.
I guess my point is that I think it’s premature to assume that “Strasser belongs in the top 5” as the original poster said. He just hasn’t pitched enough innings for me to be convinced of that. Clearly you feel differently. I don’t feel as confident projecting Strasburg’s next 24 starts as I do projecting Halladay’s, there’s just a lot more data available in the latter case than there is in the former and hence more reason to project success.
Strasburg could very well be the best pitcher in baseball…he could also be the next Josh Johnson (great when he’s not injured). We frankly don’t have enough information to say either way at this point.
I accept that as a possibility, but I think it is also important to note that Strasburg is throwing 96 MPH (pretty much as fast as he has ever thrown) and Halladay is showing diminished velocity entering his mid-30’s.
My money is on the 25 year old throwing in the high 90’s over the 35 year old throwing around 90.
Wanted to chime in in support of the pro-Straus argument.
A few notes – first of all over the course of his last 24 starts he has been better than anyone else in baseball over a similar time frame. The Grienke side track to this argument is talking about Grienke’s FIP/XFIP this year, but Grienke’s FIP/XFIP last year over 28 starts was higher than his silly low consolidated peripheral metrics are right now. Stras’s career FIP/xFIP/SIERRA over a small sample size of 136 IP are 1.95/2.25/2.32. Those are absurd numbers, all three are lower than any pitchers full season mark in any of those categories in 2011, 2010 or 2009. He absolutely has been the best pitcher on a per inning basis in the time frame of his career.
Now 136 IP is not a large enough sample to be conclusive, but it’s far too large to be outright dismissed either. The two other things to look to are his stuff and his other stats. His stuff is awesome, either best SP stuff or 2nd to Verly – no worse than top 2. Let’s move on…
His minor league equivalencies in 2010 are 2.40/2.35 for FIP in AA/AAA. This adds another 53.1 IP of dominance over professional hitters. Again, something as opaque as MLEs shouldn’t ever be considered conclusive in it’s own right, but it’s further support that he is a dominant, crazy good SP.
The argument that he needs to learn to be more efficient is also a canard – he’s thrown 15.13 pitches/IP over his career – this is good for the 22nd fewest among SP during this time frame (244 pitchers). He’s been even lower over the past two years – 14.48 pit/IP in 2011-12. The only thing keeping him from going deep into games is the Nationals conseratism/slavish devotion to a flawed metric for player fatigue. As they back off the kid gloves on him, he’ll go deeper – it’s not like the guy isn’t efficient in how many pitches he throws per IP.
So the only things that keep him from being not just top 5, but maybe even top 1 are an IP limitation (which is unclear what that will be), and the very real kid glove treatment he gets from the Nats (which is what keeps him from going deep into games, not inefficiency). Those do absolutely dimish his 2012 fantasy value, but I’d still take him over every pitcher outside of the top 5. Replacement value a large number of leagues (particularly where there is no limitation on the number of moves) is pretty good for SP because you can usually find mediocre guys with good matchups. In not too deep leagues you should be able to beat a 4 ERA 1.3 WHIP and 6 K/9 by cherry picking the right guys, and I’ll take 120-140 Stras innings combined with 40 replacement starter IP over guys like Haren, CC, Felix, Shields. Gets tough with guys like Weaver, Hamels and Grienke, and the IP/usage definitely keeps him out of the top 5, but the SSS argument against Strasburg is getting more absurd by the start.
Peavy sure looks legit. That’s for sure. But, I wonder how he moved 20 spots, and J. Santana actually dropped. Both have health concerns. Both play for poor teams. And, both have excelled despite those potential flaws. I assume that both should move up slightly, as they’ve at least proven both effective and healthy in the short-term. So, where’s the disconnect that rockets one up and actually somehow stalls the other?
And, I would like to reiterate the Lilly comments. He’s an open-book at this point, but I don’t see the point in penalizing him for over-performing. I understand not buying into the hot start. But, I don’t understand swinging his value negatively because of it. By that logic, all those that have hit obstacles this early in the year, should automatically get a ratings bump because of the expected massive correction.
Henderson Alvarez drops outside top 100? DIPs theory obviously has a stranglehold on your guys. There are exceptions for elite GB% pitchers who are backed by excellent IFs. And do you really think his K rate will stay this low? 5 plus for career, and I think it will regress to that. HR/FB rate is 15% … doubtful that won’t come down. BBs will likely come down as well. I think we’re looking at a 3.8 1.20 floor for the guy and a 3.4 1.15 ceiling. That’s top 70. That said I am sitting him this week vs TB.
I liked him the best, but boy I don’t understand how he doesn’t get more strikeouts and whiffs with his stuff. And even if you think that GB guys are useful in real life, strikeouts are a 5×5 category and his value will hurt because of it.
I’m 4X4 without Ks, so obviously he’s more valuable to me than others. What about his stuff makes you think he can’t regress to his 6K per 9 career rate? Or at least regress to 5? Nasty sinking action in the mid 90s. That’s plus stuff, no? I mean he needs to master another pitch or two , but …
I did notice his Fstrike % is bordering on great (63.3% 11/12). Are there any studies out there that on the value of Fstrike? Another thing, Jays pitching coach has been emphasizing pitch to contact all year. Morrow etc seem to be heeding the lesson. Would love to read a “pitch to contact” top down pitching strategy dissection.
Brandon Webb was pretty valuable as a high IP, good ratio, low K pitcher for a few seasons there, I seem to remember.
I think the Anibal ranking looks a little low. K/9 over 10, fip and xfip under 3. NL east appears to be a fairly weak division for offense. Of the guys above him, I would at least take him over Morrow, Hanson, Darvish, and maybe Latos. I assume there must be some discount for injury, but that doesn’t explain Hanson outranking him.
Good list though, thanks gents!
One guy has Gio at 38 and one guy has him at 18 – how are we supposed to leverage that into useful information. LOL
There’s likely a guy in your league that likes him in the top twenty and another that doesn’t trust him as much? And that the true talent might lie in between?
that seems the point of consensus ranks at least.
eno, if you guys could just get together and agree on consensus ranks so that you guys are all on the same page before you rank the guys that would be great. thanks much!
the point is that they DONT agree.
seems perfectly fine to me.
Between 23 and 59 on Scherzer, that’s a bit of a gap.
Btw, I bought Scherzer from a guy that had him valued as a “59” and I value him as a top 20, so Eno’s post probably vibes with reality.
Why is Bud norris so high?
“Sober and difficult to budge.”
Indeed. I was frustrated with this entire series for not rewarding guys who have had solid starts as much as I would have. After stepping back and thinking about it, what this series really shows us is that although an individual’s opinion of a player may change quickly, the value of the player as a collection of all opinions is rather static over the given time period. Still frustrating, but this may stop me from assigning my own value to players instead of the overall or collective value when trading. Maybe.
Yes it’s hard to make these lists, yes it’s still a small sample size, yes everyone looks for their favorite guys and complains when they drop. But the one that’s totally mystifying to me is Johan Santana. He’s pitching effectively, beyond what anyone could have expected of him. He doesn’t give up many runs and racks up K’s. He’s a health risk, but we knew that coming into the season. So far he’s been a top 30 pitcher (on a per inning basis at least). Yet he still drops in the rankings because one guy put him at 151. Better have Zimmerman double check his list.
RA Dickey seemed to have a major split, with scores of 58, 60, 82, and 119. Can we get a bit more information on the thinking/argument there?
I would like to see an article on how much we trust ZiPS RoS. I understand very few things have stabilized at this point but ZiPS certainly isn’t shy of value swings. For example Johan Santa was projected with a 3.62 FIP in the beginning of the season and now has a 3.29 RoS. That is not insignificant. Bryan LaHair is another guy that ZiPS RoS loves but got little movement in the rankings.
It seems to me there are two possibilities – ZiPS is out to lunch, or these rankings need to be a little more reactionary in some cases. Right now I tend to trust ZiPS more for RoS analysis, simply because it’s grounded more in numbers and consistency.
Lance Lynn nowhere to be found?
Dan Haren way way too high and he’s a first half pitcher, having a bad first half. Sell !
Where can I find xFIP stats for pitchers.?
thanks
Anyone else realize Jaime Garcia’s velocity is down this year? I know he never had a big fastball, but could maintain a low 90’s mph heater. He’s not even touching 90 mph that much. His K’s are down and he seems to give up a good number of hits and his WHIP suffers as a result. So I feel he could be injured or something is wrong mechanically. That being said, I have been riding Drew Smyly’s hot start and I assume a regression is in order for him and looking to move on. The aforementioned Garcia is avaiable in my league, but Billingsley, Minor, McDonald, Feliz, and EJax are there as well. Going by this list Garcia would be the pick, but my corncerns have been stated previously. Any thoughts or suggestions? My league is H2H and has HR allowed and K/BB as additional categories.
Haren is severely overrated here. Possibly back problems, mediocre stuff so far, no run support in his starts.
Yeah, that lack of run support is totally Haren’s fault. He should take the bat out of Albert’s hands and pinch-hit for him by force, or bludgeon him with it and send him to the DL since he’s stinking up the joint. Or put out his own money to sign some more/better hitters? Maybe make out his own lineup cards and rip up the ones Scoscia puts out?
Man, there are so many options available to Haren to increase his own run support, and he hasn’t done any of them!! Iit’s like he doesn’t even care…